Head coach Rick Jones and the Green Wave baseball team will open the 2006 Fall World Series on Wednesday at Zephyr Field.

Oct. 31, 2006

NEW ORLEANS, La. -
The Tulane University baseball team will begin its annual, five-game Fall World Series on Wednesday, Nov. 1, when the Green Wave hit the field at 2 p.m. at Zephyr Field.

The series will continue through Sunday, Nov. 5, and Saturday's game will be St. Michael's Day at "The Shrine On Airline" as members of the Green Wave team will play a game with the middle school students of St. Michael's Special School at 11 a.m. before playing game four of the Fall World Series at approximately 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday's practices are set to begin at 2 p.m. while Saturday and Sunday's ball session are slated for 1 p.m. The team will go through a short practice each day, and the World Series intrasquad games will begin between 30 to 45 minutes later.

The teams will be divided by their Green Wave experience as players with one or two years on one squad and the veterans of three or more seasons on the other. The only exceptions are fifth-year senior Brandon Gomes and sophomore right-hander Shooter Hunt, who will flip-flop squads to help even the pitching matchups.

"The Fall World Series is something that we as coaches, as well as the players themselves, look forward to," Tulane head coach Rick Jones said. "With the classes the way they are, this brings more excitement to the whole thing. They seem to be pretty evenly matched. It's supposed to be great weather all week, and for the fans that can come out, this will be a great way to get acquainted with our club.

"Fall practice is two-fold. One is to get every part of our system in, which is a simplistic one, but we have to get everyone working on how we play the game. The second one is to evaluate each player. I think we've been able to accomplish both."

Through 11 intrasquad games over the first three weeks of fall practice, the Green Wave are hitting .280 (172-of-614) with a .393 slugging percentage with 40 doubles, four triples and seven home runs. Junior utility athlete Sean Morgan, who is not expected to pitch during the fall after undergoing an emergency appendectomy prior to the start of practice, leads the team with a .474 average, while junior shortstop Cat Everett is next with a .371 mark.

The Green Wave have done a good job of getting on base, as evidence by a .410 on-base percentage, and have done a good job running the bases with 51 steals in 64 tries. Sophomore outfielders Aja Barto and Nate Simon lead the way with eight thefts apiece, and third-year sophomore Warren McFadden follows with six steals in as many tries.

From the mound, Hunt leads the squad with a 1.38 ERA and a .159 opponent batting average. He and freshman right-hander Drew Zizinia are tied for the team lead with 17 strikeouts each, and senior closer Daniel Latham has a pair of saves in eight fall appearances.

The upperclassmen will be coached by Tulane assistant coach Luke Weatherford, while student assistant and former Green Wave pitcher Billy Mohl will coach the underclassmen. Jones, associated head coach Mark Kingston and pitching coach Chad Sutter will evaluate the teams from the dugout.

The 2006 Fall World Series is open to the public and admission is free. Following the Fall World Series, the Tulane team will have some time off before hitting the field as a team once again in January when the Green Wave begin its spring practice in preparation for the 2007 season.

The mission of the Tulane University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics is to support the university's purpose of enriching the capacity to think, learn, act, and lead with integrity and wisdom. This is ensured by providing our student-athletes and staff with opportunities for competitive success and personal growth within the context of sportsmanship, teamwork, and integrity.